CNN.com is running the headline: “Early Leads for McCain, Obama” with the subtext:

The first votes have been cast in the New Hampshire primary, a key battleground in the U.S. presidential race. Residents of two small towns gave early leads to Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama. [I assume this all will change as real data arrives]

No. Stop doing this. That is two tiny towns. This is like saying “The Yankees lead the Red Sox” because the New York pitcher threw a strike at the top of the first inning. They’re even stupid enough to print this picture showing the triviality of these statements:

Do you see that? Single digits. Stop trying to “get the scoop.” Stop trying to predict trends from trivially small sample sizes. Really, it’s okay if you don’t have a headline telling us who is going to win. I guarantee you that what CNN.com has as its headline will sway more voters than exist in that entire silly little New Hampshire town.

MSNBC.com also has a “McCain, Obama get nods in early voting” but to be fair, it’s much smaller than CNN. The ABC and CBS sites seem to be thankfully bare of breathless reports of “results.”